Lionel Messi He scored a goal, gave an assist and delighted some 55,000 fans with his play in this Saturday’s 2-2 draw between the Inter Miami and the Barcelona Ecuadorian, disputed in the Guayaquil Monumental Stadium.
He Inter Miami He left with an advantage in the first half, after Messi opened the scoring in the 31st minute and then assisted Germán Berterame, who scored in the 45th; while the goal of Barcelona had arrived in the 41st minute by Joao Rojas.
However, the Argentine Tomas Martinez He stopped the victory of the American club and tied it almost at the end of the game, in the 88th minute.
The fantastic treatment of the ball from the left boot of Messi drew more than one applause from the fans in the stadium Barcelonawho always made every rival their team faced feel like a visitor.
The match began with comings and goings of both teams, but with greater danger from the visitor, with actions typical of a Messi that sustains magic and good physical condition.
A free kick from the Argentine star, with great placement to open the scoring in favor of Las Garzas, as they also tell the Inter Miamiwas blocked with extreme action by the Venezuelan goalkeeper José Contreras to reject the ball over the crossbar.
But that did not stop him, because in another action he grabbed the ball from outside the area, outwitted every rival who tried to cross his path and with a left-footed shot from mid-range he scored a beautiful goal, which even the Barcelona fans themselves celebrated, who wore the yellow color on their shirts, but with Messi’s photograph.
Barcelona reacted and tied, after a corner kick taken by the youth Johan García, who surpassed the goalkeeper and the ball fell precisely for the header of the attacker Rojas.
Before the first half ended, Messi He received the ball on the right side, observed that Berterame, also an Argentine, was running on the other side and passed the ball to him with architectural precision to score the second visitor goal.
Beyond a friendly, it was a highly demanding match for the attacker in his eagerness to join Argentina to defend the title he won in Qatar 2022 in the World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico next June.
Messi He left the game at minute 58 and the Uruguayan attacker entered his place. Luis Suarez.
The Argentine scorer Darío Benedetto played for Barcelona, who entered in the 64th minute, and who is one of the hopes of the Ecuadorian team to triumph on February 18 in the match against Argentinos Juniors for the second phase of the Copa Libertadores.
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After Messi’s departure, Benedetto went on to win the applause of the fans who were eagerly awaiting the tie.
In the 86th minute, Argentine David Ayala, from Miami, stomped on Benedetto and the Ecuadorian referee Yerson Zambrano sent him off.
Barcelona scored the agonizing tie through the Argentine Martínez, taking advantage of a lack of concentration in the opposing defense to finish at will, from close range.
Inter Miami closed its tour of South America, which began with a 3-0 defeat against Alianza Lima, from Peru, and then won 2-1 on its visit to Atlético Nacional of Colombia.
